5 Day Ancient Greece and Zakynthos. From €950
Most classical tours of Greece end where the islands begin. This private 5 day tour from Athens uses a simple fact of geography: Kyllini port, the ferry to Zakynthos, is just over an hour from Ancient Olympia. So the island fits naturally between Olympia and Delphi, with no backtracking to Athens and no flights.
- Five UNESCO sites. Epidaurus, Mycenae with its Lion Gate, Ancient Olympia, Delphi and the monasteries of Meteora, all on one route with your own private driver. A licensed guide is available as an add-on at checkout.
- A day at sea on Zakynthos. A full-day cruise to the Blue Caves, Shipwreck Beach and Turtle Island inside the National Marine Park of Zakynthos, with swim stops along the way. Outside the summer season, a private land tour of the island.
- Local flavors. Olive oil and wine at the producers' market in Olympia and a honey tasting at a family farm in the hills.
- Two nights on the island. Time to walk Zakynthos town, rebuilt after the 1953 earthquake, go up to Bochali hill and have dinner by the harbor.
History, an Ionian island and the monasteries of Meteora in five days, at your own pace and with no group to wait for. Book your 5 day classical Greece and Zakynthos tour online and see both sides of Greece in one trip.
Most tours of Greece make you choose between the ancient sites and the islands. This private 5 day tour from Athens gives you both: five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, from Epidaurus, Mycenae and Ancient Olympia to Delphi and Meteora, plus two nights on Zakynthos with a full-day cruise to the Blue Caves, Shipwreck Beach and Turtle Island. The last stop on the way home is Thermopylae. Your own driver, an optional licensed guide, and no group to wait for.
Our team at Private Tours Greece has planned private tours across Greece since 2010, and we keep refining this route based on feedback from the travelers who take it.
Day 1: Athens - Corinth Canal - Epidaurus - Nafplio - Mycenae - Olympia
- 08:00 Pick-up: Your private driver picks you up from your Athens hotel for the drive to the Corinth Canal (approx. 1 hour), opened in 1893 and so narrow that ships pass with only a few meters to spare on each side. Continue to the theater of Epidaurus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Every summer, the Athens Epidaurus Festival still stages ancient Greek drama in its theater, more than 2,300 years after it was built. Below it lies the Sanctuary of Asklepios, where patients slept hoping the god of medicine would heal them in their dreams. Stop for an optional lunch in Nafplio, the first capital of modern Greece until 1834.
💡 Insider tip: Skip the busy restaurants on the main square in Nafplio. Walk a few minutes into the quieter lanes below Palamidi for homemade ice cream or a traditional spoon sweet.
In the afternoon, visit Mycenae, the citadel that gave its name to the first great civilization of mainland Greece. Its Cyclopean walls are built of stones so large that later Greeks believed only the giant Cyclopes could have moved them. Pass through the Lion Gate and look into the royal tombs of Grave Circle A.
Then drive across the Peloponnese to Olympia (approx. 2.5 hours). Optional dinner and overnight in Olympia.
Day 2: Ancient Olympia - Olive Oil, Wine and Honey Tasting - Zakynthos
- 08:30 Olympia: On your private Ancient Olympia tour, start at the gymnasium where athletes trained for the Games, then walk past the Temple of Hera, in front of which the flame for every modern Olympic Games is still lit, to the fallen columns of the Temple of Zeus.
Enter the stadium through the stone tunnel the athletes used and stand on the 192-meter track where they raced. In the museum, see the pediment sculptures from the Temple of Zeus, with the battle of the Lapiths and the Centaurs. Allow about 2 hours for the site and museum.
Before leaving Olympia, stop at the open-air producers' market, where local families offer their olive oil and wine to taste. Then drive up to a family honey farm in the hills to taste honeys from different flowers and seasons with homemade sweets.
Drive to Kyllini port (approx. 1 hour 15 minutes) and take the ferry to Zakynthos (approx. 1 hour).
In Zakynthos town, walk Solomos Square, named after the poet who wrote the Greek national anthem and was born on the island, and go up Bochali hill for the view over the harbor. Optional dinner at a seaside taverna. Overnight in Zakynthos.
Day 3: Zakynthos Boat Cruise - Blue Caves - Shipwreck Beach - Turtle Island
- Full-day cruise: Board your boat for a full-day cruise around Zakynthos. Start in the north at the Blue Caves of Cape Skinari, where the water turns bright blue in the morning light.
💡 From our experience: Bring a waterproof phone pouch for the cruise. At the Blue Caves the morning light reflects off the water and gives the best colors for photos.
Continue down the west coast to Navagio, Shipwreck Beach, where the ship Panagiotis ran aground in 1980. Landing and swimming in the bay are currently not permitted for safety reasons, so you see the wreck and the white cliffs from the water. Sail south past Porto Vromi and the Agalas and Keri sea caves to Marathonisi, known as Turtle Island, inside the National Marine Park of Zakynthos, where loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) nest. Swim stops along the way and a last stop at Agios Nikolaos beach before you return to your hotel. Overnight in Zakynthos. The full-day cruise runs from May to September.
Day 4: Zakynthos - Nafpaktos - Delphi - Meteora
- Morning ferry: Take the morning ferry back to Kyllini (approx. 1 hour). This is the longest day of the tour, so we start early. Cross the Rio-Antirrio bridge, the longest fully suspended multi-span cable-stayed bridge in the world, and stop for coffee by the Venetian harbor of Nafpaktos. Continue along the coast to Delphi (approx. 2 hours).
On your private Delphi tour, climb the Sacred Way, lined with the treasuries that Greek cities built to show off their wealth, to the Temple of Apollo, where the Pythia spoke the god's answers, and on to the theater. In the Delphi Museum, the bronze Charioteer still holds the reins from a chariot race at the Pythian Games, and the marble Omphalos marks what the Greeks believed was the center of the world.
Allow about 2 hours for the site and museum. Cross Mount Parnassus and the plains of Thessaly to Kalambaka (approx. 3 hours), at the foot of the Meteora rocks. Optional dinner and overnight in Kalambaka.
Day 5: Meteora Monasteries - Thermopylae - Athens
- 09:00 Meteora: The Meteora monasteries, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, sit on rock pillars rising up to 400 meters above the plain. Until the 1920s, monks and supplies were hauled up in rope nets. You visit the interiors of two of the six active monasteries, with their frescoes and chapels, and stop at viewpoints for the others.
💡 Our tip: Most tour buses reach Meteora around 10:00, all at the same monasteries. Your driver adjusts the order of your visits to stay ahead of the large groups. Each monastery closes on a different day, so we confirm the combination for your dates. Shoulders must be covered and women wear a skirt, with wraps provided at the entrance.
On the drive back, stop at Thermopylae (approx. 2 hours 15 minutes). In 480 BC, Leonidas and his Spartans, with their Greek allies, held this narrow pass for three days against the much larger Persian army. See the Leonidas monument, the memorial to the Thespians and the hill of Kolonos, where the last defenders fell.
Arrive back in Athens (approx. 2 hours) in the early evening. Your driver drops you at your hotel, Piraeus port or Athens Airport. If you are flying out the same day, book a flight after 21:00.
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